


Hope in a Barren Wasteland

by Vchanny



Series: Cheer Up Drabbles [3]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Crystal Tokyo Era, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vchanny/pseuds/Vchanny
Summary: I wrote this for Charlie for this week's CheerUp/Emo exchange fic. The prompt was Minako/Nephrite; tulipsIt's an odd pairing, that I've never written, so, eh, let's see how this goes. ^^;;Set in pre-Crystal Tokyo, during the freeze.
Relationships: Aino Minako/Kunzite, Kino Makoto/Nephrite
Series: Cheer Up Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846312
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: SSMB Cheerupemo Fic and Art!





	Hope in a Barren Wasteland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CopperCrane2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CopperCrane2/gifts).



It was cold outside the crystalline structure that would one day be the beacon of Crystal Tokyo. Out here, the sunlight did not break through the clouds, and the wind ravaged the frozen landscape. Minako adjusted the fur lined cape tighter around herself and readjusted her satchel of supplies over her shoulder. The hatch to the transport she had taken closed, the hydraulics hissing as it went up.

With the Earth frozen, and the uncertainty of what the King and Queen’s magics would be able to salvage, they had collectively decided to try and cultivate an array of seeds of the various plants Mercury’s computer could trace, in hopes of having something to work with in the worst case scenario.

Minako was not against this plan. She was, however, against going in teams. But, her Princess, now Queen of a sleeping planet, insisted. As if they hadn’t been 14 when they trudged through the frozen arctic looking for Beryl at D Point. She had many years under her belt now, a few resurrections, and did not feel the need for a babysitter. But, she could never tell Usagi “no.” So, here she was, scanner in hand, walking nearly side by side with another who’d had a few resurrections under his belt, too, Nephrite.

He and the three other Heavenly Kings randomly showed up after the Earth froze over. No one knew why. Ami theorized maybe the Earth needed them to heal. Minako had given Usa some serious side-glare, thinking maybe it was on her, but she swore she had nothing to do with it. Mamoru was just as clueless. Pluto, as always, kept her secrets.

This was their final stop this run. Soon, they’d turn around and get back to the others, and warm up. Nephrite stood tall next to her, the small gps dwarfed in his large palm, it beeping as he guided them to their targeted area. She had landed them close enough, it was just a short trek, and they made it in near silence, minus some gripes about the wind.

As she began unpacking the small apparatus Ami and Zoicite had designed to dig through the hard ground, he decided to break the pleasant silence she had been so careful to maintain. “I’m surprised to see you out here, you know.”

She smirked, not looking up, staying focused on the task. “Yeah, well, I’m better when I have something to do. Let the smart people stay and do the important stuff, you know? Send this work horse where you need it!”

“Are you saying I’m not smart?” he joked.

“Not what I meant.”

“Keeping busy keeps the mind clear, and quiet. I understand,” he added, not skipping a beat, fishing through his own bag for his own tools.

She merely nodded and began her work, borrowing the scanner as needed, colder now as the heat from her exposed knees was transferred into the cold ground underneath.

“I prefer to keep busy, as well. Idle hands and all.” He paused a moment, kneeling down to get closer to the item he was trying to uncover. “Being cooped up in a relatively small space with the same dozen or so people all the time isn’t good for the mind.”

“Can drive a person crazy…” she said slowly, more to herself than him.

“Anyone in particular?” he prodded. 

She huffed and rolled her eyes, pretending she didn’t hear him. If she didn’t hear him, she didn’t have to answer. Right? She could go a day without someone bothering her about things. Personal things.

“Something wrong?”

“Look.” She sat back on her legs and squared her shoulders. “I thought you’d be less chatty, that’s all. It’s why I agreed to this particular assignment. And we've done pretty good so far at sticking to that. I just wanted to get out of the sanctuary and do something with my hands. I don’t really want to talk about why.”

He quirked a brow and asked almost knowingly, “Trying to get away from someone?”

Sigh. Why didn’t she just come with Jadeite? She could at least threaten Rei on him if he started asking stupid questions. Mako was already making cutesy faces with Nephrite, though, and her help was a lost cause. Hell, Mako probably put him up to this. “Ha, when did you get so perceptive?” 

“I’m more than this chiseled, manly face and all this hair.”

She curtailed a laugh, and got back to work. Ignoring his pout that she didn’t respond further. She was not going to talk about a certain silver-haired back from the dead general today, especially not with Nephrite of all people.

“You can’t just run away from things you don’t want to deal with,” he continued casually, having gone back to his own cultivation.

She scoffed. “Of course I can. And if you hadn’t noticed, there’s plenty of vacant places to run off to these days.”

“Cold places,” he added light heartedly, and continued a few moments later. “I think you both tend to overthink.”

Caught off guard, and a little peeved at his persistence, she peered in his direction. 

“You and Kunzite,” he clarified. “Things don’t have to be complicated. There doesn’t have to be expectations.”

Gah, why wouldn’t he shut his beefy, mop of hair that belonged in a shampoo commercial, Mako loving mouth up? Of course it was complicated. Had they managed to save the four of them at D-Point when they were 14, maybe things could have been different. Maybe they could all be walking around with their star-crossed lovers, arm in arm, living out the fairy tale like Mamoru and Usagi. But, Minako wasn’t a 14 year old girl obsessed with love anymore. They had a planet to run, after they saved it first. She wasn’t sure she even liked Kunzite. He irritated her. Undermined most of her ideas. And looked so fucking hot doing it. That really annoyed her the most. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to kill him or screw his brains out. Maybe both, she thought briefly. He pushed all her buttons. And not in a fun way.

Just then, Nephrite pulled the object he had been trying to obtain from the frozen patch of Earth, and held it up for her to see. “Ah, there we go. Did you know tulips symbolize all sorts of types of love?”

“Tulips?” Minako realized she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they’d been looking for at that moment. She’d been in auto-drive mode all day. Fly to your destination. Find seed. Check if it’s dead. Put it in the bag. Repeat. “How do you know that, anyway?”

He sat down on his bottom, crossing his legs as he looked the item over. “Mako gave me a nice review of the plants we were gathering before we left. I told her I’d find her some red ones.”

“You can’t tell the color by the bulb,” she chided.

He shrugged and carefully placed it in his side bag. “Maybe not. Maybe you can find some white ones.”

She unearthed the bulbs she’d been trying to reach, scanning to make sure they were viable. “And what do white tulips represent?” she asked as she inspected the hard, brown sphere.

“White tulips send a message of forgiveness.” 

“Hmm,” she turned it in her hand a few times, inspecting for any clues that could reveal the color. She _was_ a little sorry for overreacting the other day. The change he’d suggested really wasn’t that much, but she had exploded. Utterly lost it. Sometimes she felt like she couldn’t get two words in before he had to criticize, and that frustration boiled over. Cabin fever was definitely taking its toll on her.

“You know, it’s a miracle these things survived. Kinda makes anything feel possible, huh? Let’s get back to the ship, eh? I’m freezing my ass off.”

“You _are_ the dolt sitting on the ground.”

“Fair enough,” he chuckled, then stood and offered her a hand up, which she took graciously. Her muscles groaned in this cold. She was going to talk to Mercury about some sort of pants to go with their fuku. 

She rolled the bulb in her palm once more before placing it in her bag carefully. Maybe he was right. Maybe there was hope that something good could come from this barren wasteland, that something could bloom in the spring with enough nurturing. She should try to nurture a friendship with Kunzite. Maybe, just maybe there was hope.


End file.
